Karen Aldous - The Vineyard

‘Annatia Wu, yes. Bright, talented and quite a sweet girl actually.’ With those words, Cal’s mind immediately slipped back to his meeting with Lizzie just a short hour ago. She was sweet he was sure, under the bitter coating.

‘Well she’s done well focusing her designs on Jez,’ shot Charlie, laughing at his own schoolboy joke.

‘I wouldn’t tell her that, Charlie-boy. I should warn you she needs a bit of a humour transplant – you know, she’s bit intense. Good to see Jez happy though.’

‘Why do we do this to ourselves?’

‘What’s that?’

‘Women! They take away our humour and spontaneity.’

‘Mmm, they have a habit of getting under our skin I suppose.’ Cal got an image of Lizzie naked getting under his, and swiftly moved the conversation on. ‘Jez could do a lot worse.’

‘God yeah, that Tina he was with for years didn’t deserve him. Cheating little bitch! Glad he got rid of her.’

Cal nodded in agreement but was still distractedly captivated by all the surroundings. The track was winding to an end and Cal’s mouth was figuratively dribbling.

‘Jez has really turned this place around. This is fucking amazing,’ he cried. The Range Rover was now facing the villa and the whole scene would have knocked Cal off his feet – had he been standing. In just a few weeks, much work had been done. ‘He must be the luckiest bastard alive I reckon, inheriting this little gem.’

‘That depends?’ Charlie slowed the vehicle to drive over a ramp. ‘I mean, I can’t imagine what I would have done with it? Sold it probably.’

‘Well, it’s not something that floats your boat is it? If your grandparents left you a pontoon in Cannes, your own wide-berth mooring oh, and a flotilla of yachts, I think we might be on par!’

‘Too right – Yeah…if only!’

‘And a beautiful woman of course?’ then Cal recoiled at his faux pas. ‘Sorry mate.’

‘Cal, I’m done with woman, beautiful or not. Like I said, they knock the life out of you anyway. Well, Kate did. Anyway, don’t worry, I’m better now, though I can’t believe it was nearly two years ago that she died.

‘God bless her, it is, yes, nearly two years. It was after I came out of the navy and set up the first vines. God, how time flies. Kate was one of the best Charley-boy.’

‘Yeah…And no one I’ve met or am likely to will come up to her standard. No one can or will replace Kate. Bloody unfair! Bloody bike ride to work!’

‘Yeah. So sudden.’

‘We’d probably have had kids by now. Kate had wanted to start a family, last year.’

‘That’s sad mate,’ Cal’s voice was sympathetic, ‘you’d make a great dad. I reckon Alana did me a favour. I’d have been gutted to have started a family only for her to decide she was too busy with her career and to never see her child.’

‘Yes, I agree. Alana never struck me as the maternal type. Must have been good seeing Jack at Easter though?’

‘Yes, only a few days but he was good. Sixteen next year.’ Cal couldn’t believe how quickly time had gone. ‘It was pretty devastating not being involved with Jack but once he’s finished high school, he wants to come and stay longer.’

Cal felt a pang of emotion from a past era and a longing for his child. It had been hard for him to swallow all those years ago, soon after he’d joined the navy, when his girlfriend, who was just eighteen and pregnant with his child, had flown off to New York with a guy twice her age. She even tried to claim the child belonged to Reuben, her new and super rich husband. Cal flew out once she had Jack and persuaded her to tell Reuben the truth, before he did. Fortunately for Kelly, Reuben forgave her and Cal made sure Jack knew who his father was.

‘I’m looking forward to that. Hopefully, we’ll see more of each other instead of just twice a year. He’ll be over for Christmas this year.’

‘Brilliant, you both deserve some time together,’ Charles said, smiling.

‘So, Charley-boy, no romance on the horizon then?’

‘Met up with one or two other lawyers, female ones obviously but, I don’t know, it could be me. I don’t really have the energy to play their games or jump to their demands.’

‘Maybe it’s too soon? They’re never easy at the best of times,’ Cal consoled his friend.

‘Exactly. So bloody complicated, women.’ Charles gently slowed the Range Rover as they approached the villa and drove over the final ramp. Jez appeared from a freshly painted Provencal blue door which matched the shutters.

‘There’s our man,’ cheered Charles.

‘Indeed.’ Cal forced the grin. ‘And his good lady.’ Annatia appeared beside Jez, waving just as they pulled up on the shingle. Cal opened his door beside them and the couple welcomed him.

‘Hey, Jez, looks like we need to get started on the pruning tout-de-suite.’ He shook his old school friend’s hand and then greeted Annatia with a kisses to both cheeks.

‘Ha, brilliant idea mate be my guest. Annatia has very kindly made us some lunch but feel free if you can’t wait.’

‘Maybe I need some energy first,’ Cal conceded.

Charles walked round the car and shook his friend’s hand too, then gave Annatia a gentle hug and kissed her on both cheeks just as Cal had done. They all followed her into the villa. Cal at once noted the change in the décor. Rather than Mediterranean lemon, the walls were now brilliant white and the floors retiled. The traditional red terracotta tiling had been replaced with high-end Italian marble, streaked with taupe and shades of grey. Creamy-white sofas gleamed in the light. The windows were draped effortlessly in cream linen curtains hung from black wrought-iron rails whilst white voile blew gently in the breeze.

‘Expertly planned but simply applied,’ Cal said. ‘I’m impressed.’

‘Thank you, yes. We are rather proud it has worked out,’ Annatia replied.

Charles followed without much observation, unlike Cal and Jez; he paid no attention to such domesticity.

‘Hmm.’ Charles twisted his head round to take in the scene. Jez broke in. ‘I’m sure I told you Annatia has an interior design business. She only came out in March and by the end of April had gathered a team to do the work. They were here for about ten days?’

Annatia nodded. ‘Yes, not too long.’

‘Good job,’ said Charles, wiping his neck. This small talk was out of his comfort zone.

‘Ok. Drinks?’ Jez led them all out to the terrace. ‘I’ll open a bottle of my finest shall I?’ The mid-day sun was diffused by a fully extended cream canopy over the terrace. Marble flooring and dark grey iron furniture matched the interior with wrought-iron balustrades furnishing the balcony. Beyond that, vines stretched as far as the eye could see with even a glimpse of the Med in the distance. Cal could only dream of owning such splendour.

‘Stunning, absolutely stunning.’

‘Yes beautiful isn’t it. As the sun goes down it becomes even more so,’ Jez said, proudly.

‘When I came a few weeks back, the visibility was poor and it didn’t stop raining so you couldn’t see far at all. I’m just overwhelmed. The house too, it was…’

‘Awful.’ Annatia cut in.

‘Err…traditional I’d say,’ Cal said diplomatically. Jez squeezed Annatia’s hand as they both laughed.

‘It’s coming together, gradually,’ admitted Jez, passing Charles a glass of wine.

Charles made a polite nod and nonchalantly slumped his body into the nearest chair. ‘What about turnover Jez? Is it paying for itself yet?’ he asked.

‘Are you serious Charlie-boy?’ Cal jeered. ‘No rent and over half the vines at least good to go – Jez is doing something drastically wrong not to be in profit already.’